Pool of Death
by Aryelweb
Summary: It was what she always wanted. Her husband, Arthur, and her daughter used to always love it, until the day it claimed her life. OCs inside.


This is for the fanfic100 challenge. The prompt is "Water".

**Disclaimer**: This is a FANfiction site, so DUH. I do own Vera and her children, though. And Tara. Tara will be explained in another fanfic, don't worry.

No flames, but constructive criticism is welcome:) R+R.

Also, Tricia and her family moved to Australia shortly before Vera was born, which is why the "illegal sprinkler" thing. I did this because I've never been to England. XD So why am I doing this?

Because I can.

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Water. Trillian had loved water. Arthur could remember a trip to the lake, which had happened when Vera was seven. He remembered Trillian's splashing eagerly in the water, darting underneath like a fish and jumping out like a graceful dolphin. Her panting as she came to the picnic table, Vera bounding around her. Back when Vera had limitless energy.

Arthur remembered Tricia bouncing in glee and excitement when their pool was finally finished. He remembered being woken up as she climbed out of bed early for a morning swim, to fly in the water whilst the sun rose. Arthur remembered so many pool parties they were a blur. The family loved all of them. Vera bustling around with drinks when she wasn't swimming with her friends and cousins. Arthur conversing with the guests. Tricia learning new tricks from her friends. But there was always a shadow over them. Tara wasn't there to join in the fun, but sometimes her creative sister would see her jumping around, laughing and dancing on the water. Vera would dance the same way, but on the land, in the water of the sprinkler. The sprinkler was on illegally, of course, but no one said anything – it wasn't on every time, and was only on during the day once.

Now, years after, the pool was a dark, murky brown, all kinds of insect wildlife swimming in it, the pump long broken. No one had used it for years. Even Vera choked down a sob whenever she saw it whilst visitng her widowed, empty father with her family. And it wasn't because of its state. It wasn't because she never saw Tara dancing on it anymore – whenever she did see Tara, Tara was staring intently, still a sixteen year old girl, at her with a piercing, emotionless gaze, her hands, usually so joyfully and carelessly tossed around, limply hanging by her side, her head cocked to her left. It had been like this since a month before the accident happened. The first time, Vera had been alarmed severely, and almost started in shock. But when someone came up behind her, requesting how she was, Tara disappeared.

Now Vera and Tara just looked at each other, their expressions joined. Vera never saw her mother. Just Tara.

But now Tara rarely appeared. The last time Vera had seen Tara was five months ago, and there was one difference – Tara had been crying. Just like Vera.

Vera and Arthur closed their ears to the begging of Vera's children. 'Fix it, grandpa! I want to swim! Thomas knows how to swim, he said he'd teach me!' Thomas was the oldest of the four children. Only Thomas seemed to notice his forebears' reactions to the pool. One day the twelve year old had gingerly approached his mother.

'Don't you ever wonder,' she said sadly before he even opened his mouth. 'Why I don't have a mother anymore?'

She said this aloud, on another visit to Arthur, alone in his living room, a place that had been her home as well, for eighteen years. She saw a picture on the mantelpiece, a picture of her mother, so unaware, so blissfully happy. Memories came flooding back.

'_Mummy?'_

'_Yes Tommy?' Vera looked around, a light expression on her face, to the three year old toddler sitting on the ground in front of her._

'_Where's grandma?'_

'_She's swimming, Tommy.'_

'_But whenever you swim you make lots of noise!' said the boy. He suddenly started crying. Thomas had known. Now, he had forgotten._

'_What is it, Tommy?' said Vera, suddenly alarmed._

'_Grandma's quiet!' he wailed as Vera kneeled down beside him. 'Where's grandma? I want grandma, she's floating! Now she's sinking! Get grandma! I want grandma!'_

'_I'll get her, then,' usually Vera would have told her son off for being so demanding, but she was so thoroughly spooked she didn't. She found herself running to the backyard, opening the gate into the pool, running inside, looking around feverishly, calling her father to come, hurry! Seeing a body at the bottom of the pool…_

… _Despite the efforts of the paramedics and Arthur's lifesaving skills, learnt such a long time ago, Trillian was dead._

That event, branded in the mind of father and daughter, would never be forgotten for the rest of their lives.


End file.
